Door latch



DOOR LATCH Filed Oct. 28, 1925 Patented oa. 12, 1926.

UNITED-STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DoN Ross FURNAS, oFAIIRoRAJLLINoIs, AssIGNoB, To AURORA STEEL PRODUCTS COMPANY, or AURORA, ILLINoIs, A conPoRATIoN or ILLINoIs.

Doon LATCH.

- Application led ctober'28f1925. Serial No. 65,344.

This invention relates to improvementsin door-latches designed particularly for use in connection with the sheet-metal doors that are employed for` metal clothessloc'kers and similar structures. It is common to pro# Vide such lockers with an inturned longitu` dnal flange at the freeed e of the ydoorway-that is, the verticale ge portion that is remote from the hinges of the door-and to slidingly secure a verticallyy movable bar to the inner face of the locker frame adjacent to such flange, said bar carrying a plurality of latches rigidly aiiixed' thereto that are adapted to engage with keepers carried by the door.V In theact of closing the door the rounded edges of the keepers coming in contact with the latches will force such bar up, and, when the door is wholly closed, the bar will ordinarily move ldown by gravity so as to eiIect an interlocking of the latches with their keepers. It sometim es occurs, however, that the bar will not drop, the result being, of course, that the desired latching movement does not take place.. It is the object of my invention to provide an improved door latch for lockers, &c.,` comprising means so located with reference to one of the latches as to automaticallybreak any sticking or bindingengagement of the bar and compel its downf ward movement so ast'o positively insure the desired latchingvof the door; also to pro-V vide for mounting the locking devicesv or keepers and the handle or actuating device on the door, and the latch or latches on the locker` frame. I accomplish these objects by the construction and arrangement ofV parts as shown in the drawing and hereinafter particularly described. hat which I believe to be new is set forth vin the clainis. A' ,In the drawings, I h g r Fig. 1 is a vertical section, partly broken away, through a metal locker and rits door, with my improved latching mechanism attached thereto, the section beingtaken on line aa of Fig. 2; i l

Fig-2 is a view showing the inner face of a portion of a locker door and the frame of the doorway therefor, with which the im,-

provements are incorporated, and showing also, in dotted lines, the position of the parts when thevlatches are raised out of engage-- ment with their keepers. A portion ofthe i doorway frame of av second locker is also drawin'gs,.5 indicates a portion of the body of a lockerformed of sheet metal, as usual, in the open front of which is set a framework to' which the walls of the locker are y connected as usual, and to one of the vertical side bar members of which the door of the locker will he hinged. n This framework inthe constructionshown comprises two vertical side members 6, each formed of an angle-iron, and upper and lower crossbars, indicated respectively by 7 and 8,

which as here shown are of channel-iron construction. The flanges of the cross-bars and one ofthe flanges of each'side bar eX- tend toward the interior of the locker. The sheet-metal door that fits within this doorway frame and is hinged thereto is indicated by ,9,4 `and,`as shown, its marginal portions orm inwardly-directed flanges, the upper and lower ones of which are indicated respectively by 10 and 11, and, when the door is closed, each lies close to and parallel with a flange of one of the cross-bars. The vertical flange on the'free edge of the door is indicated by 12, and, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it stands parallel with and at some distance from the inwardly-directed flange Vofthe adjacent side bar member 6 when the door 9 is closed. Riveted to the door flange 12 are a plurality of locking devices or keepers adapted to be separately engaged by latches carried by a latch bar mounted on the locker frame to move vertically, as hereinafter described. The number ,of keepers and latches may well be varied but as here'shown three' of such keepers'and latches therefor are provided, the keepers being indicated respectively by 13, 14 and 15. As shown each keeper is pro vided witha deep notch in its upper margin forthereception of a latch, and each, has that portion of its upper edge that 'liesbetween the notch and its free end Vsharply inclined downward from such notch.

-16` indicates a latch bar lying against the inner tace ot that one of the vertical side bars 6 that is adjacent to the free edge of the door. Said bar 16 is slidingly secured in place as usual by headed bolts 17 that are atlixed to said side bar and extend through slots 17 in the bar 16. Riveted to the bar G are latches 18, 19, and 20 that p-roject laterally across the flange 12 of the door and are adapted to engage respectively with the keepers 13, 14: and 15 that are carried by such ange.

21 indicates a handle tor the door, which handle is mounted on the door and has a limited vertical movement with respect thereto by reason ot' linger portions 22 `projecting through shortslots 23 in the tace ot the door. To these linger portions or ends of the handle is bolted a vertically movable latch trame 2-1 which also serves as a handle supporting member. Said frame as here shown is formed ot a piece of sheet` metal bent upon itself to U-shape to provide parallel members at opposite sides thereof the edges ot which lie in close proximity to the inner tace of the door. Such members are in the 'form of ears 25, 26 at opposite ends of the member 24 and at one side thereof, and an intermediate elongated ear 27 at the same side, the latter ear being set over to one side ot the longitudinal plane of the ears 25, 26, as best shown in Fig. L1. At the opposite side of the member 24 are ears 2S, 29 which correspond with the ears 25, 26, respectively. rIhe ears 27, 28 carry rollers 30, 31, respectively, mounted adjacent to the marginal portions ot said ears so that they project slightly beyond the edges thereof in position to bear against the inner tace of the door. These rollers are preferably mounted in open ended slots 32 in the ears which carry them, as illustrated in Fig. 5, said rollers being provided with annular grooves somewhat wider than the thickness ot the ears so that the rollers are held loosely in the slots 32. It will be noted that the rollers and 31 are spaced apart longitudinally of the frame 24 so that the latch trame slides easily along the inner face ot the door and does not bind even though the torce applied to the handle to move the latch should tend to rock the latch frame about a transverse axis, as would be the case it the handle were gripped near the bottom and pulled up from that point, since as shown in Fig. 1 the end portions of the handle are secured to the ears 25, 26. By the construction described I provide a latch frame that always moves smoothly regardless ot where the handle is grasped.

Formed with the latch iframe 24 are two ears 33 and 34 that are parallel with and adjacent to the inwardly-directed flange 12 oi the door, said ears being spaced apart sutticiently to receive between them the latch 19. The lower edge ot the ear 33 and the upper edge ot the ear 34 are curved or inclined, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, to permit them to move more easily past the latch 19 when the door is closing, as will be understood. The parts of the mechanism are so arranged relatively to each other that when the door is closed the lower ear 34 will eX- tend alongside of the keeper 14: but with its upper edge sufficiently below the upper edge of such keeper to permit the latch 19 to lie to its full extent in the notch therein, and thus by the interlocking ot said latch and its keeper, as well as by the interlocking ot the other latches with their keepers, the door will be held in latched position. To release the several latches from their keepers so that the door can be swung open, the handle 21 is raised to the extent permitted by the slots 23, and such movement,` through the contact of the ear 34 with the lower-'edge of the latch 19, will force up the latch bar 16 so as to wholly withdraw the latches from the notches in their respective keepers. The ear 33 is provided as a means for insuring the descent ot the bar 16 so as to carry the latches into interlocking engagement with their keepers. By reason ot the curved upper edges of the keepers coming in contact with the lower edges ot the respective latches, the closing of the door will cause a rising ot the latch bar 16, and ordinarily as soon as the latches move over the notches in the keepers the latch bar 16 will drop, thereby seating the latches in such keepers. It however, as sometimes happens, the latch bar 16 should stick in its raised position` then as the door is being closed the curved lower edge ot the ear 33 will come in contact with the upper edge ot the latch 19, and as such latch rides along said curved edge the bar 16 will be forced down and will carry the various latches against the curved upper edges of their respective keepers, so that during the linal closing movement of the door the latches will be brought over and drop into the notches ot the keepers. 1n addition to the parts 18, 19, 2O serving as latches they also serve as stops to limit the inward swinging of the door, for while the latch bar 16 is freely movable up and down it is of course held by the headed bolts 17 against moving away from the member 6 on which it is mountec At 35 is shown the casing or' a lock that is attached to the inner tace ot the door. The bolt 36 ot the lock is adapted to be actuated by a key inserted in the lock from the front of the door, as usual, and when the holt is projected., as shown in Fig. 2, it will overlie a shoulder or upper end portion of the vertically-movable latch trame 24 that is connected with the door. handle, and thus will etl'ectually lock the door closed, as will be understood. Another locking vmeans is provided that may be used in lieu ot or lock.

That I claim as m invention and desire to secure' by Letters atent,

l. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members off said frame, a latch carried by said bar', a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carriedby the door, With which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, and means mounted on the door and operable to positively move said latch into engagement with the keeper.

2. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, and means mounted on the door and movable into enga-gement with the latch by the closing of the door, said means being operable to move the latch into or out of engagement With the keeper.

3. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a

latch carried by said bar, a door'hinged in` said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock from above, and a vertically movable ear carried by the door and located above said keeper, said ear being movable over said latch by the closing of the door, to force it down into engagement with the keeper.

4. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking-bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keepen said latch is adapted to interlock from above, and a vertically movable ear carried by the door and located above said keeper, said ear being movable over said latch by the closing of the door, to force it down into engagement with the keeper, the proximate edges of the keeper' and ear being reversely inclined.

5. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a fixed keeper carried by the door, With which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, and two vertically movable ears carried by the door and located onev above the other, said ears being movable respectively over and under said latch by the closing ofthe dor,fviliereby one of sait-l ears' fvvil'l operate to move the latch ihto fen-- `gagement with the keeper, and the other earwill operate to move the latch out of enga ement with the keeper.

' '6. he combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried b said bar, a door hinged in said frame, ali with Which keeper said latch is'V adapted to interlock, a member carried by the inner face yofthe door to move vertically, rollers interposed bettveen said member and the door, means on the outer face of the door for moving said member vertically, and means carried by said member for actuating said latch. 7 The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a. latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock,'a member carried by the inner face of the door to move vertically, rollers inter posed between said member and the door, means on the outer face of the door for moving said member vertically, and means carrie by said member for positively moving the latch into engagement with the `keeper upon the closing of the door.

8. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a. latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, a member carried by the inner face of thel door to move vertically, rollers interposed between said member and the door, means on the outer face of the door for moving said member vertically, means carried by said member for positively moving the latch into engagement with the keeper upon the closing of the door, and means carried by said member for moving the latch out of engagement With the keeper.

9. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried by said bar, a door hinged in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, With which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, a member carried by the inner face of the door to move vertically, rollers interposed between said member and the door, said rollers being spaced apart longitudinally of said member, means on the outer face of the door for moving said member vertically, and means carried by said member for actuating the latch.

10. The combination of a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said frame, a latch carried by said bar, a door hinged eeper carried by the door,

in said frame, a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, a member carried by the inner face of the door to move vertically, rollers interposed between said member and the door, said rollers being spaced apart longitudinally of said member, means on the outer iace of the door for moving said member vertically, and means carried by saidV member for positively moving the latch into engagement With the keeper upon the closing of the door.

1.1. The combination oi' a locker frame, a vertically movable locking bar supported by one of the side members of said iframe,4 a latch carried by said bar, a door` hinged in said frame7 a keeper carried by the door, with which keeper said latch is adapted to interlock, a U-shaped frame carried by the inner face of the door to move vertically, rollers interposed between the opposite margins of said frame and the inner face of' the door, said rollers being spaced apart longitudinally of said frame, means on the outer face of the door for moving said member vertically7 means carried by said member for positively moving the latch into engagement with the keeper upon the closing of the door, and means carried by said member for moving the latch out of engagement with the keeper.

DON ROSS FURNAS. 

